“We did use shark DNA in order to help stabilize the body,” Lauren continued, “and we didn’t even know the host inherited this feature until it had been fully grown in the womb tank. Sharks use these organs to sense electric fields in the water to hunt for prey, but it seems our host body can possibly detect electrical energy even in the air when it surfaces. It reacts every time we power up our instruments, and Dr. Ostermann even thinks it can detect electrical currents in our own bodies. If we can confirm this then it would be a major breakthrough.”
Kazimir clicked on the mouse button again. Switching over to the next video in the virtual file folder of his laptop he took another sip of champagne.
This recorded scene showed Lauren in her room, as if getting ready for bed. “Had an argument with Dr. Smith today. I finally admitted to the whole team that I did splice in some salamander DNA to help the host’s healing process and it wasn’t part of the log. It was important because these types of amphibians have the ability to fully regenerate damaged tissue, and it was a necessity due to the corrective surgeries the host had to endure, so Proteus needed an efficient way to physically recover from the constant organ transplants we’ve done on it.”
Lauren looked away from the camera while shaking her head. “Dr. Smith wants out. He told me I’m making the same mistakes I did back in Maryland… and maybe he’s right, I don’t know. He didn’t want me secretly adding in all the various genome traits from other species into a monstrous melting pot without proper testing, he says. I begged him to stay, at least until after the next examining cycle. He’s sulking in his room right now, thinking about it. If Emeric finds out, he may be crazy enough to kill Dr. Smith just to keep things quiet, knowing him.”
Kazimir grimaced while switching to the next entry. I’ll need to delete that one. I can’t have anything that would implicate my brother, no matter how deranged he is.
The succeeding recording showed Lauren inside her inner office, eyebrows arched in surprise. “More unexpected developments. We were able to sedate Proteus to run a full test on it in order to see how well it’s adapted so far. The results are downright… spectacular. The host’s musculature has grown considerably, no doubt because of Dr. Ostermann’s suggestion to turn off the myostatin gene, thus preventing muscular atrophy, and overproduce follistatin, which promotes uninhibited muscle growth instead. The result is a very powerful physical specimen, and it’s still growing. The only problem is we have to get more food supplied to it, because its hunger has become insatiable.”
“And we also found another unexpected side effect after we spliced on a genome strand from an extinct ground sloth that Dr. Parsons had been able to map a few years back,” Lauren continued. “Now it seems the subject has begun growing osteoderms, or outer bony deposits that resemble scales all over its skin—these help to prevent acidification of body fluids and helps to control temperature while the host is in the water. Dr. Fukiyama says they look like a denser version of shark skin, and he could well be right.”
Lauren paused before looking into the camera. “Our original reasoning for splicing all these other genomes was to create a resilient, temporary host that the transplanted brain could survive in long enough so that we could grow a new, improved human body for it, and it looks like we’ve totally succeeded on that first part. Now we have to put further modifications on this host body aside so we can finally achieve what Emeric wanted in the first place.”
Kazimir skipped ahead a few more times.
In video log marked thirty-four, Lauren seemed giddy, as if she’d created a new form of life. “Another unexpected thing we found is that the subject has a very efficient aerobic metabolism. Humans in general use up about fifteen percent of the oxygen they inhale, while Proteus seems to be able to do what whales can—use up to ninety percent of it. This makes the host body a superior specimen if we could figure out how to mass produce it.”
She continued. “The team now seems to be split. One side is led by Doctors Ostermann and Smith, while I’m the spokesperson for the others. My ‘opponents’ regard the current host body as some sort of dangerous, uncontrollable aberration, and are demanding we remove the transplanted brain from it right away, while I am telling them that we need more tests to determine if the subject still has the memories of who he once was.”
31
KAZIMIR MORGENSTERN had switched to scotch whisky by the time he opened the new virtual folder on his laptop containing the last set of videos that he’d received prior to the cyclone. The hard liquor made him lightheaded and it became an effort to think clearly, but he needed something to dull his increasing depression.
The following video was marked fifty-three, and by this time Dr. Lauren Reeves’s features had changed considerably. Now there were stark streaks of gray in her once jet black length of hair, and the facial wrinkles had become more prominent around the eyes and temples, indicating a high degree of stress.
“I feel… this all-star team is beginning to break up,” Lauren’s recording said softly. “We attempted to prep the subject for surgery to remove the brain from the host body, but it reacted so violently that Dr. Smith was knocked out with a concussion, and Dr. Fukiyama suffered a fractured arm. Both are resting in their rooms upstairs at the mansion. I think one of the security guards got hurt too, but they didn’t tell me anything. Now I think those local servants are starting to suspect something’s not right down here.”
She paused for a bit before continuing. “Emeric is also very unhappy. When I told him it might not be possible to transplant the brain from the current host anymore he went crazy. I thought he was going to hit me, or worse. Just when I felt we had succeeded in doing what we were supposed to do, now I think he might tell his brother to stop the funding and shut it all down. This is what scares me the most. Even with all the breakthroughs, this won’t be complete until we create a perfect human host body for the final transplant. I need to keep talking to him, to keep things going as they are.”
Kazimir shook his head as he switched over to the next video. Goddamn you, Emeric. I must have sunk more than half a billion dollars into this project, and now it’s all screwed up and could even bring me down too.
The next entry showed her looking down at the floor, unable to bring her eyes towards the camera. “Dr. Smith is staying away from the labs. He wants out right away, but Emeric told him he has to wait for the next supply boat, even though we know a helicopter can be brought over to pick us all up any time. They both argued about it all night, and I think Emeric is forcing him to stay. Dr. Smith tried to go to the dock and take one of the boats, but he was forcibly restrained by the security team. The servants inside the house saw it all, and I don’t remember if Dr. Smith blurted anything that could be used against us.”
Lauren shook her head before she continued. “I personally think it’s too late. The brain we placed in the host body has completely adjusted to it, the neural nerves have fully grafted themselves onto the spinal column. I don’t think it can take the trauma of being transplanted to a new host body, even though Dr. Ostermann says he can grow a normal looking specimen in a few months’ time. Someone is going to have to tell Emeric the bad news, and it’s going to have to be me.”
Stupid, shortsighted bitch, Kazimir thought as he played the succeeding video.